UK Government’s Contested Illegal Immigration Plan To Become Law

London
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s highly contested plan to make it easier to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is set to become law after the government defeated attempts by parliament’s upper house to make changes to the legislation.
The Illegal Migration Bill had been stuck in a battle between parliament’s House of Commons and the House of Lords, Britain’s unelected upper chamber, which had repeatedly made changes to the legislation to water it down.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the last of those proposed changes was voted down. It can now go for Royal Assent, where it is formally approved by the King and becomes law.
The plan to deport asylum seekers has been criticised by some opposition politicians, lawyers, and civil rights groups as inhumane, cruel and ineffective.
However, deportation flights to Rwanda are unlikely to start until next year at the earliest and will still hinge on a ruling by the Supreme Court on their legality later this year.
The new legislation is at the heart of the government’s pledge to stop asylum seekers from making the dangerous crossing from France to the southern coast of England on small, often unseaworthy boats.
It will prevent most people from claiming asylum in Britain without permission and will deport them either to their country of origin or a so-called safe country like Rwanda.